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Nepal Earthquake Relief: Direct Aid to Rural Areas

April 30, 2015

From COE Alumni Mark Harris who is on the ground in Nepal:

Update from Mark, May 1: "Bought supplies on credit and sending a jeep today...."

In April I returned to Nepal to start an art center in Sindupalchowk, with a local friend of mine David. We had rented an old stone house near in an idylic valley and began basic renovations to make a comfortable place to invite artists and musicians to come to focus on their art with the intent of offering simple programs for local kids. A short video of that home can be seen here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2M1kqq1EUc

After three weeks of painting, cleaning, and installing new lights we organized a small dance party for the neighbourhood kids where we sang songs and provided snacks, as an unofficial opening of our creative home.

The next day the earthquake devastated the country, totally demolishing our home along with nearly every other home in the valley. The region of Sindhupalchowk was the hardest hit in the country with a death toll rising above 1,500 people.

Our mission now is to return to the region with desperately needed food and medicine, as survivors are quickly exhausting what rations could be salvaged from the ruins of their homes. The immediate aim is to ensure that people will not starve for in the coming week, especially as aid has been extremely slow to arrive in the most rural areas. As much of the region is only accessible by footpaths, we will be walking village to village to set up basic camps.

We are seeking funding outside of the traditional NGO-model because in this way we can ensure that 100% of our funds will go to the survivors of the Great Earthquake, and not to salaries, office staff, and other overhead.

We want to serve 10 remote villages by providing each one with 3-5 large tents, a first aid kit, a water filter, a solar mobile phone charger (to restore communication lines), and a month's supply of food rations.